Despite the spirit tree's assertions that he was inside its body, the Elder found himself doubting the claim. The environment around him was immense, as if he'd been reduced to an ant's size, and the divine eye overhead appeared to belong to a god-like entity, observing its creation.
His only explanation for this surreal reality was the spatial Qi pervading the area—known to alter the dimensions of spaces. For instance, spatial rings used stored spatial Qi to create a tiny pocket dimension far exceeding the rings' physical size.
Although bewildered by his surroundings, the Elder was certain of one thing: the whispers of the void he had absorbed to restore his cultivation were fading while the spatial Qi around him was accumulating. Over time, despite the spatial Qi being less potent than his void Qi, it would overwhelm him.
So the answer to his predicament was simple, aim for the divine eye glaring him down from overhead. But how? He was suspended in this vast space like a speck of dust, and the eye seemed so far away, like a distant star.
I should have something in my spatial ring for an occasion such as this, the Elder mused. After living and surviving for so long, he had amassed numerous lifesaving artifacts for various predicaments. It had been so long since he started collecting these items, and since he last found himself in such dire straits, he had forgotten what he'd stored.
Feeling the eye's intense gaze on his back that made his skin crawl, he tried to activate his spatial ring, but nothing happened. "What?" Panic set in as he shoved more Qi into the spatial rings that had been on his fingers for centuries, yet in his greatest time of need, they remained dormant, as if they were just glorified lumps of metal and nothing more.
"Those rings use spatial Qi." The Elder paled at the mocking voice. He studied the cold metal encircling his gnarled fingers, frowning deeply. They did indeed harness spatial Qi, so in a place saturated with such Qi, he may be cut off... then he noticed a crack in one ring, followed by a lilac stream spilling out. Within the stream, he saw miniaturized versions of all his hoarded treasures.
"No!" His panic heightened as another ring cracked, then another. "No, no, no!" He watched in horror as twelve lilac streams filled with his collected items flowed away from him, spiraling past the divine eye.
"I knew wasting points on items was a terrible idea when I can just rob idiots for them." The voice was distant as if it were talking to itself. The Elder struggled to discern the intent behind the soul words, but he felt insulted.
With his face burning red from a mixture of anger and embarrassment, he shouted up at the eye that seemed to be looking at the items swirling around it with glee, "You thieving scoundrel, return those or face the wrath of the Voidmind family."
"Mhm?" The eye glanced back at him, and he felt an ungodly pressure descend on him, "You should worry about yourself first."
The Elder's eye twitched, and he clenched his fist. No one had dared to speak to him this way in over three hundred years! Drawing void Qi from his core, he directed it toward his missing arm, forming a javelin of pure void.
Aiming was unnecessary, given the eye's colossal size that took up much of the space. Grinning, he hurled the void javelin upwards into the vast expanse. The act sent him floating backward for a while. He watched as the eye lazily observed the incoming attack with apparent indifference.
"Foolish," the Elder gloated as the javelin struck the eye, "Void Qi penetrates all defenses—"
Suddenly, the javelin evaporated as if it had hit an invisible wall, leaving the eye unscathed. The eye then turned to him, "Your attacks are powerless against me."
"Impossible!" The Elder bellowed. He was well aware of void Qi's capabilities, and in his centuries-long life, he had never witnessed anything blocking void Qi. Such a feat was only conceivable if the entity in question was... divine.
He had suspected he was contending with a divine being due to the soul speaking, a communication method known only to be used by heaven, but confirming the presence of an actual divine being was another matter entirely.
The Elder felt his entire body lust for power. He may be in a precarious circumstance, but this was likely the greatest opportunity any cultivator had ever encountered. He would be set for life if he could slit that eye open and cultivate within its divinity. Nascent Soul Realm would be a breeze, and Monarch Realm would be a mere stop-off point. He would soar to the greatest heights and then void walk to the higher realms.
"Elder Voidmind, would you be open to sharing some knowledge with me?" The voice interrupted his thoughts.
Knowledge? What information could he hold that a divine entity didn't already possess? Was this a ploy to let his guard down? Had his attack inflicted damage, and the divine being was buying time to recover?
Regardless, he was running out of time. Spatial Qi was gushing into this vast space at an alarming rate, and he could no longer sense the whispers of the void.
"Tsk. Stop playing with me." The Elder cursed. If long-range void attacks didn't work, he would carve a hole in the eye with his bare hands. Gathering Qi in his hand, he aimed them behind himself and felt his Star Core burn in his chest as he propelled himself forward with void flames.
The eye overhead appeared to be amused by his attempts. Time passed, and the Elder's patience wore thin. No matter how hard he tried, he seemed to make no progress, the eye maintaining a constant distance.
"Why not tell me about your life experiences while slowly depleting your Qi." The voice proposed, prompting the Elder to halt his efforts and remain floating in the seemingly infinite space.
"Why can't I get closer to you?" Frustrated and feeling toyed with, the Elder questioned the space's peculiar nature. Even before the eye responded, he observed the spatial Qi waterfalls flowing in two directions and had a sudden realization, "You're manipulating the dimensions of this space, aren't you?"
"What I do is of no matter," the eye responded dismissively, "You'll soon be dead."
Gritting his teeth, the Elder swallowed his pride and asked through clenched teeth, "If I answer your questions, will you let me go?"
"Freedom? After attacking Stella?"
The Elder winced as he saw the waterfalls of spatial Qi collapse toward him like waves the size of stars. He braced hard as the wave smashed into him, and he felt his Star Core almost bottom out with Qi as it rushed to defend him.
"You will never be free."
As the wave passed, he gasped for breath as if winded.
"But I might propose a deal," the voice offered, reviving a spark of hope within the Elder.
"What is this deal..."
"I'll allow you to consume some of my divine sap," the eye laughed mockingly, "though I doubt it'll be of much help to you."
The Elder didn't know what it meant by that, but even if all he could do was extract some Qi from the sap, he felt it was worth a shot.
The life-saving artifacts he'd been wearing earlier had shattered while defending against the Worldwalker's deadly attack. With his spatial rings, filled with life-saving items, now broken, and his access to void Qi cut off, he was truly running out of time.
"Fine. Deal," the Elder said, trying to regain his composure. "What knowledge are you seeking?"
"How are you able to communicate with me?"
The Elder stroked his chin, perplexed. Was this a test of some kind, or was he overthinking things? How could a divine being using such an advanced type of communication not know what they were doing?
"You're communicating with me through your soul," the Elder responded cautiously. "I can sense the intent behind your words."
After a lengthy pause, the voice asked, "Is that because you are within my soul, or is it due to a particular technique you've mastered?"
Looking around in confusion, the Elder replied, "I thought I was inside your trunk? How can this be your soul..." Even with spatial Qi manipulation, he was skeptical that he could be shrunk to the size of a Star Core, unless the spirit tree's Star Core was large enough to accommodate a person.
Chilled by the thought of his predicament, he quickly clarified, "If we are indeed within your soul, that would explain it. I don't know any specialized soul communication techniques."
The eye averted its gaze, and the Elder could faintly hear distant mumblings. "If Stella were to enter my soul, could we converse..."
After a while passed and the Elder grew impatient as he looked down and saw a lake of spatial Qi rising, he asked, "Anything else?"
The eye swiveled down to glare at him, "What do you know about alchemy?"
"Nearly everything. I am a master alchemist," the Elder replied. "If you're asking me to relay all my knowledge, there isn't enough time."
"Can you transfer your knowledge to me?"
The Elder shook his head, "That's impossible." In truth, it wasn't. He simply chose not to.
"Mhm, fine, just tell me the basics."
The Elder frowned but complied nonetheless. "Alchemy is the art of creating pills and elixirs from ingredients with traces of Qi. These ingredients must be purified and refined by the alchemist before combining them in exact proportions. The alchemist must then burn the ingredients with their soul flame in a specially designed cauldron."
Seeing the eye remain silent, he cautiously continued, uncertain if he was explaining something overly simplistic, "The process tests a cultivator's patience, precision, and understanding of the world's natural rhythms. The cultivator must comprehend the nature of each ingredient and how they interact to produce the desired outcome."
"Interesting," the voice said. "And is it true that not every affinity is capable of alchemy?"
The Elder nodded, "That's correct. Affinities without a soul flame find it difficult to perform alchemy. For instance, the Silverspire family in the sect, with their metal affinity, cannot perform alchemy."
There was a long silence as the eye seemed to get distracted by something else. Was it deliberately prolonging the conversation, or was it easily distracted?
"Hello?" the Elder asked, "Are you still there?"
"Yes, I'm here."
"Do you have any other questions?" The Elder felt lost.
"What are the strengths of void affinity?" the eye asked.
"Destruction and travel," the Elder replied cautiously, wary of revealing too much about his affinity. "Void Qi violently reacts with all other types of Qi, giving us the ability to overcome those stronger than us. As for travel, we can journey through the void, much like those with a spatial affinity."
The Elder glanced around with fear as he saw the spatial Qi fill up the space. The divine being had already proved he could crush him with a wave of spatial Qi at any time, and he didn't know how much longer his Star Core could hold out with only its passive generation protecting him.
"I see. Well, you've answered my questions, so I will reward you."
A wave of relief washed over the Elder, but he couldn't help but narrow his eyes. This all seemed too easy... what was this divine being scheming?
A solitary drop of black liquid fell gracefully from above, passing the eye and floating before him. He tried to probe it with his spiritual sense but couldn't determine its true nature. It resembled blood, yet it was viscous and so black it appeared almost like the void itself.
It was so obviously a trap of some kind, but did he even have a choice? Maybe the divine being was clueless about how close he was to reaching the Nascent Soul Realm. Perhaps I can consume this, break through to the next realm and bypass the toxins or whatever is present in this blood by forming an infant soul and escaping.
He knew it was a long shot, but what other option did he have?
Reaching out, the Elder cupped the viscous blood in his hands, it wiggled around as if alive and made him shudder, but without another regret, he consumed it.
A moment passed, and nothing happened...
"I've always wanted to watch a man transform into a tree," the eye's laughter echoed throughout the space.
The Elder recalled the recent demonic tree infestation in Darklight City. His eyes widened as he put the pieces together. Hurriedly examining his body, he saw the blood droplet morph into a black seed that took root in his Star Core.
"I wonder what type of tree you'll become. Perhaps a void tree?" The eye joked, and the Elder gritted his teeth.
***
Ashlock watched with interest as the Elder consumed his cursed sap. It was now dusk outside his trunk, and the feeling of having someone inside his soul drove him nuts. It felt like having a fly buzzing around inside ones empty stomach.
He could have tortured the man for more information, but a few questions answered, and several items obtained seemed sufficient, and he just wanted this headache of a person gone.
More importantly, he wanted to witness what happened when a person transformed into a tree.
As it turned out, the process was slow. Over an hour passed, and Ashlock watched as the man meditated desperately, breathing heavily, clearly trying to fight something within.
Eventually, the Elder abandoned meditation, probably due to the lack of void Qi in the environment, and resorted to pleading. "Please! Great divine being, I will be your eternal servant! I can even make an oath of loyalty!"
Ashlock dismissed him. He had no use for a servant, and he suspected oaths were far from foolproof. Also, he would have to let the man out of his soul first for him to say the oath, which was a terrible risk. Seeing the effects of his cursed sap was far more interesting.
"Just perish for me," Ashlock said indifferently to the Elder.
The tormented Elder began to laugh manically, and after a while, he grinned. "Good, good! You dare to treat me like this."
Ashlock observed roots sprouting from the corner of the Elder's mouth and the man's body convulsing. It seemed his Star Core had lost the battle against the cursed blood.
But then something else began to occur—a scene Ashlock was familiar with. Liquid void Qi flowed from the Elder's eyes and mouth as he continued to laugh, indicating he was going supernova.
Ashlock watched with sleep tugging at his consciousness. The sun had set, but the restless sensation caused by the Elder's presence in his soul had kept him awake, denying him much-needed sleep. He wasn't concerned about the Elder going supernova, as the void Qi couldn't harm him.
"I will see you in hell!" The Elder screamed in his final moments, his body expanding until it erupted outward. Ashlock's entire trunk groaned and shook, and the mountain trembled.
Ashlock blinked as he saw the void Qi had eradicated much of his spatial Qi, which he had been amassing throughout the day. Now his Star Core was brimming with void Qi.
The Elder was dead... a 9th-stage Star Core cultivator with centuries of experience. It was almost harrowing how easy it had felt toying with his life. "I guess that's the power of locking someone within your soul, a place you have absolute control."
[Warning: Foreign Qi Detected]
[High Risk of Soul Corruption]
Ashlock looked at the messages and began to panic despite his exhaustion. He knew his body could survive near annihilation and regenerate within days, but to this day, he hadn't found a way to repair soul damage.
[Generating solutions...]
[Convert foreign Qi into spatial Qi]
[Merge void Qi with a system skill to upgrade it]
[Dispell void Qi into the nearby atmosphere]
"Huh?" Ashlock read the options again and couldn't believe it. The first and last ones were ignored as he could generate spatial Qi himself, and dispelling void Qi into the area around him was just stupid.
But to merge the void Qi with one of his system skills?
Without hesitation, he selected the option, and his skill list appeared.
[Demonic Demi-Divine Tree (Age: 9)]
[Star Core: 2nd Stage]
[Soul Type: Amethyst (Spatial)]
[Mutations…]
{Demonic Eye [B]}
{Blood Sap [C]}
[Summons...]
{Ashen King: Larry [A]}
{Infant Grass Snake: Kaida [F]}
[Skills…]
{Mystic Realm [S]} [Locked until day: 3515]
{Eye of the Tree God [A]}
{Deep Roots [A]}
{Magic Mushroom Production [A]}
{Lightning Qi Barrier[A]}
{Qi Fruit Production [A]}
{Blooming Root Flower Production[B]}
{Language of the World [B]}
{Root Puppet [B]}
{Fire Qi Protection[B]}
{Transpiration of Heaven and Chaos [B]}
{Devour [C]}
{Hibernate [C]}
{Basic Poison Resistance [F]}
"Wait... I can select which skill I want to upgrade?" Ashlock was dumbfounded. His system had always been purely random concerning his skills, giving him little control over his progression.
But now he could choose which one to upgrade?
The question was, which skill would work the best when merged with the void affinity?
